“Unfortunately, we did see a slight decrease in recycling for 2017,” Wheeler said in his annual safety-service report on Monday. “I think we need to refocus and re-prioritize recycling in our community.”

The percent recycled dropped from an all-time high of 17 percent in 2016 to 15.8 percent in 2017. The total delivered to the landfill increased 6 percent over the same year.

Wheeler’s goal for recycling is 20 percent of the total waste collected by the Kimble Co. Since 2007, the city has seen its total recycled increase by more than 31 percent and its total landfill drop-off decrease by nearly 11 percent.

“The more we do our own recycling and realize, ‘Holy cow, we’re almost as close to recycling as there is trash,’ I think that would be ideal,” the safety-service director said.

Mayor Dave Handwerk added at his home, “We have more recyclables than we do trash, but, if you drive around town, there are still people that don’t put their recycling bin out.”

Orrville received a $26,975.50 recycling grant from the Joint Solid Waste District in 2017. The more the city recycles, the more it can receive in grant money. The city also pays for how much goes into the landfill, so with more items being recycled, the city can cut that price as well.

“There’s definitely a financial incentive for all of us, the more we recycle,” Wheeler said.

Items that can be recycled by Kimble include all newspaper, all colors of glass, cardboard (broken down), aluminum cans, plastics with numbers 1-7 on the container, and other bi-metal products.